Sports Bag

ABSTRACT

A sports bag has a sheet body having a first edge, a second edge, and a pair of side edges. A fold point traverses the sheet body, between the first and second edges, separating the sheet body into a first panel and a second panel. A pair of zipper fastening mechanisms are each disposed along one of the pair of side edges, and has interlocking attachment strips extending in opposite directions from the fold point. The interlocking attachment strips of each zipper fastening mechanism are initially entirely disconnected from each other so that the sheet body may be positioned completely flat, but the interlocking attachment strips may be fastened together so that the first and second panels are connected together at the side edges to form an inner chamber between the first and second panels. Furthermore, at least one handle is attached to the elongate sheet body for carrying the sports bag.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to bags, and more particularly to asports bag adapted to holding sports equipment.

Description of Related Art

Sports equipment is typically carried in large duffel bags, or a widevariety of other traditional bags. It is desirable to have a sports bagthat can be opening completely to a flat configuration for placing thesports equipment on the large planar sheet, and then folding the sheetover to form a bag for carrying the sports equipment.

To be completely flat, it is necessary that the fasteners on the sidedisconnect from each other so it can lay completely flat. It is alsodesirable that the bag be made of mesh or other suitable material, andhave suitable reinforcement straps. The mesh allows the bag to breathand allow evaporation of sweat and other moisture, while the strapsenable to bag to be strong enough to carry heavy equipment withouttearing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and usewhich give rise to the objectives described below.

The present invention provides a sports bag has a sheet body comprisinga first edge, a second edge, and a pair of side edges. A fold pointtraverses the sheet body, between the first and second edges, separatingthe sheet body into a first panel and a second panel. A pair of zipperfastening mechanisms are each disposed along one of the pair of sideedges, and comprise interlocking attachment strips extending in oppositedirections from the fold point. The interlocking attachment strips ofeach zipper fastening mechanism are initially entirely disconnected fromeach other so that the sheet body may be positioned completely flat, butthe interlocking attachment strips may be fastened together so that thefirst and second panels are connected together at the side edges to forman inner chamber between the first and second panels. Furthermore, atleast one handle is attached to the elongate sheet body for carrying thesports bag.

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a sports baghaving advantages not taught by the prior art.

Another objective is to provide a sports bag that can be opened and laidcompletely flat.

A further objective is to provide a sports bag that enables adequateventilation, while still being strong enough to carry heavy sportsequipment.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following more detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way ofexample, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention. In suchdrawings:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a sports bag according to oneembodiment of the present invention and shown positioned flat withsports equipment on top of the sports bag;

FIG. 2 is bottom plan view of the sports bag, without the sportsequipment;

FIG. 3 is an up-close view showing one of a pair of zipper fasteningmechanisms of the sports bag;

FIG. 4 illustrates the sports bag being folded, and the zipper fasteningmechanism being attached together; and

FIG. 5 illustrates the sports bag when each of the pair of zipperfastening mechanisms are fully interlocked to form an inner chamber forholding the sports equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The above-described drawing figures illustrate the invention, a sportsbag that may be unzipped such that it can be positioned flat.

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a sports bag 10 according to oneembodiment of the present invention and shown positioned flat withsports equipment 12 on top of the sports bag 10. FIG. 2 is bottom planview of the sports bag 10, without the sports equipment 12. As shown inFIGS. 1-2 , the sports bag 10 comprises a sheet body 20 having a topsurface 21 a and a bottom surface 21 b, a first edge 22 a and a secondedge 22 b, and a pair of side edges 24, and a fold point 26 thattraverses the sheet body 20, between the first and second edges 22, thatseparates the sheet body 20 into a first panel 28 and a second panel 29.In this embodiment, the sheet body 20 is constructed of a mesh material,though any suitable materials may be used, e.g. a natural or syntheticknit, a sheet constructed of plastic, rubber, etc., a mixture of these,or any other desired materials.

As shown in FIGS. 1-2 , the sports bag 10 further comprises at least onehandle 30 attached to the sheet body 20 for carrying the sports bag 10.In this embodiment, the at least one handle 30 is in the form of a firsthandle 31 a located adjacent the first edge 22 a of the sheet body 20,and a second handle 31 b located adjacent the second edge 22 b. In otherembodiments, the at least one handle 30 may be in the form of a singlehandle attached at two points to the sheet body 20, or a drawstringhandle, or any other form of handle deemed acceptable by themanufacturer. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the first and secondhandles 31 are each in the form of a fabric strap having ends 32 thatare attached to the sheet body 20. However, in alternativeimplementations, the first and second handles 31 may each also include arigid portion, or the handles 31 may be tubes instead of straps, and/orthe handles 31 may be connected only at one end. While one example isshown in FIGS. 1-2 , any potential form of handles for carrying a sportsbag 10 may be used, and the present invention is not limited to theembodiment disclosed herein.

As shown in FIGS. 1-2 , in this embodiment, the first and second ends ofthe first and second handles 31 are connected to each other via firstand second reinforcement straps 34 that extend the length of the sheetbody 20. As illustrated, the first and second reinforcement straps 34may be spaced from each other a first distance D1 that is greater than asecond distance D2 between each of the first and second reinforcementstraps 34 and its respective side edge 24. However, in some embodiments,the reinforcement straps 34 may be structured differently than theexample of FIGS. 1-2 (e.g., having an additional reinforcement strap(s)across the first and second reinforcement straps 34, etc.), or thereinforcement straps 34 may be excluded from the sheet body 20.

As shown in FIGS. 1-2 , the sheet body 20 further comprises a pair ofzipper fastening mechanisms 36 each disposed along one of the pair ofside edges 24. In this embodiment, the zipper fastening mechanisms 36each comprise a pair of interlocking attachment strips 38 extending inopposite directions from the fold point 26 and each including a top stop40 adjacent the first and second edges 22 of the sheet body 20. Theinterlocking attachment strips 38 may be further from or closer to thefold point 26 and/or first and second edges 22 than illustrated,depending on the desired points of attachment. The zipper fasteningmechanisms 36 are best shown in FIG. 3 and discussed in further detailbelow.

FIG. 3 is an up-close view showing one of the pair of zipper fasteningmechanisms 36 of the sports bag 10. As shown in FIGS. 1-3 , in thisembodiment, one of each of the pairs of attachment strips 38 includes azipper slider 42 having a puller 44 and a retainer box 46 adjacent thefold point 26. The other of each attachment strips 38 includes aninsertion pin 48 for engagement with the zipper slider 42. Asillustrated, the attachment strips 38 of each zipper fastening mechanism36 can be entirely disconnected from each other so that the first andsecond panels 28 and 29 of the sheet body 20 may be positionedcompletely flat. Therefore, the first and second panels 28 and 29 mustbe pulled upwardly to connect the insertion pin 48 and the zipper slider42, shown in the following Figures and discussed below.

For the purposes of this application, “flat” is defined as a positionwherein the sports bag 10 is generally flush with and conforming aroundthe surface beneath it; it is understood that surfaces such as theground or a table may not be precisely horizontal or levelmathematically speaking, and such surfaces should be considered withinthe scope of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a person connecting the zipper fastening mechanisms36 together, and FIG. 5 illustrates the sports bag 10 when the each ofthe pair of zipper fastening mechanisms 36 are fully interlocked to forman inner chamber 50 for holding the sports equipment 12. As shown inFIGS. 4-5 , the interlocking attachment strips 38 may be fastenedtogether so that the first and second panels 28 and 29 are connectedtogether at the side edges 24 to form the inner chamber 50 between thefirst and second panels 28 and 29.

In use, as shown in FIGS. 1-5 , the sheet body 20 of the sports bag 10may be laid flat on a surface such as the ground, wherein items that theuser wants to carry within the bag 10 are placed on the top or bottomsurfaces 21 of the sheet body 20, in the present example the top surface21 a. In the present example, the sports bag 10 is being used to carrythe sports equipment 12, but any desired equipment or other items may becarried (e.g., housewares, picnic items, construction tools, etc., orany other desired items), depending on the size and material of thesports bag 10. Next, the insertion pin 48 of each of the pair zipperfastening mechanisms 36 is inserted into the zipper slider 42, whereinthe zipper slider 42 may be pulled upwardly via the puller 44 to jointhe pair of interlocking attachment strips 38 together, thereby pullingthe first and second panels 28 and 29 upwardly from the fold point 26 toform the inner chamber 50. In this configuration, the top surface 21 ais on the inside of the sports bag 10, and the bottom surface 21 b is onthe outside. Obviously, in the case of placing the sports equipment 12on the bottom surface 21 b prior to joining the pair of zipper fasteningmechanisms 36 would result in the bottom surface 21 b being on theinside of the sports bag 10.

In this embodiment, once the pair of attachment strips 38 areinterlocked, the first and second edges 22 of the sheet body 20 aregenerally adjacent. In some embodiments, an additional fastener such asa press stud, clasp, tie, hook-and-loop fastener, etc., may secure thefirst and second edges 22 together. Alternatively, the first edge 22 amay overlap the second edge 22 b, depending on the location of the foldpoint 26.

The title of the present application, and the claims presented, do notlimit what may be claimed in the future, based upon and supported by thepresent application. Furthermore, any features shown in any of thedrawings may be combined with any features from any other drawings toform an invention which may be claimed.

As used in this application, the words “a,” “an,” and “one” are definedto include one or more of the referenced item unless specifically statedotherwise. The terms “approximately” and “about” are defined to mean+/−10%, unless otherwise stated. Also, the terms “have,” “include,”“contain,” and similar terms are defined to mean “comprising” unlessspecifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the terminology used in thespecification 105 provided above is hereby defined to include similarand/or equivalent terms, and/or alternative embodiments that would beconsidered obvious to one skilled in the art given the teachings of thepresent patent application. While the invention has been described withreference to at least one particular embodiment, it is to be clearlyunderstood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments, butrather the scope of the invention is defined by claims made to theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sports bag comprising: a sheet body having afirst edge, a second edge, and a pair of side edges; a fold point thattraverses the sheet body, between the first and second edges, thatseparates the sheet body into a first panel and a second panel; a pairof zipper fastening mechanisms, each disposed along one of the pair ofside edges, each of the zipper fastening mechanisms comprising a pair ofinterlocking attachment strips extending in opposite directions from thefold point; wherein the pair of interlocking attachment strips of eachzipper fastening mechanism are initially entirely disconnected from eachother so that the sheet body may be positioned completely flat, butwherein the pair of interlocking attachment strips may be fastenedtogether so that the first and second panels are connected together atthe side edges to form an inner chamber between the first and secondpanels; and at least one handle attached to the elongate sheet body forcarrying the sports bag.
 2. The sports bag of claim 1, wherein the atleast one handle is in the form of a first handle located adjacent thefirst edge, and a second handle located adjacent the second edge.
 3. Thesports bag of claim 2, wherein the first and second handles are eachstraps attached at first and second ends, adjacent the first and secondedges, respectively.
 4. The sports bag of claim 3, wherein the first andsecond ends of the first and second handles are connected to each othervia first and second reinforcement straps that extend the length of thesheet body.
 5. The sports bag of claim 4, wherein the first and secondreinforcement straps are spaced from each other a first distance that isgreater than a second distance between each of the first and secondreinforcement straps and its respective side edge.
 6. The sports bag ofclaim 1, wherein the sheet body is a mesh material.
 7. The sports bag ofclaim 1, wherein one of each of the pairs of attachment strips includesa zipper slider having a puller and a retainer box adjacent the foldpoint, and the other of each attachment strip includes an insertion pinfor engagement with the zipper slider.
 8. A sports bag comprising: asheet body formed of a mesh material having a first edge, a second edge,and a pair of side edges; a fold point that traverses the sheet body,between the first and second edges, that separates the sheet body into afirst panel and a second panel; a pair of zipper fastening mechanisms,each disposed along one of the pair of side edges, each of the zipperfastening mechanisms comprising a pair of interlocking attachment stripsextending in opposite directions from the fold point; wherein the pairof interlocking attachment strips of each zipper fastening mechanism areinitially entirely disconnected from each other so that the sheet bodymay be positioned completely flat, but wherein the pair of interlockingattachment strips may be fastened together so that the first and secondpanels are connected together at the side edges to form an inner chamberbetween the first and second panels; a first handle located adjacent thefirst edge, and a second handle located adjacent the second edge;wherein the first and second handles are each straps attached at firstand second ends, adjacent the first and second edges, respectively; andwherein the first and second ends of the first and second handles areconnected to each other via first and second reinforcement straps thatextend the length of the sheet body.